Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Radio “Salutes” the East: Newspaper and University Interests in the Listening Stations of Eastern Kentucky
Presentation #1 Title
Radio “Salutes” the East: Newspaper and University Interests in the Listening Stations of Eastern Kentucky
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Appalachian Studies Conference 2017 Paper Proposal
Radio “Salutes” the East: Newspaper and University Interests in the Listening Stations of Eastern Kentucky This research paper examines the history of the Listening Center program put in place by the University of Kentucky Radio Studies Department, which operated from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. With the intent of offering educational and popular culture material to rural mountain residents in the state of Kentucky, the fledgling University of Kentucky Radio Studies program, led by professor Elmer Sulzer, initiated a program of establishing centers in Eastern Kentucky where residents could listen to the radio free of charge. My research shows that listening centers, while operating primarily on an informal basis, came with certain provisions, including records kept by an appointed center director (intended to be a community leader of some sort) of attendance and which programs were favored by attendees. A portion of each day’s listening program would also be devoted to lectures on various academic topics by University of Kentucky professors. The Listening Center program offers more than a mere nostalgic glance at the bygone golden age of radio. I place the university-led program at a critical intermediary point between the first major commercial station in Kentucky (WHAS, in Louisville) and the standard bearer for public, University radio in the Bluegrass State, WUKY in Lexington. By the mid-1930s, many Americans tuned to radio stations would be skeptical of the notion that meaningful educational content could be transmitted over the airwaves, as radio had already begun to show its fundamental ties to commercial advertising and content. Yet the Appalachian region seemed to offer a more fertile ground for this effect to radio devotees like Elmer Sulzer and UK faculty. My project examines the way radio seemed in its heyday to offer a new means of educating isolated mountain communities. True, radios would eventually become more affordable and available to eastern Kentuckians, and later give way to television broadcasts. However the history of these centers is no less instructive to students of education and communication in Appalachia, as well as those interested in the general history of the region. Reference for this project comes from a number of Appalachian history scholars, including Ron Eller’s work on the region’s history post-1945, as well as the work of David Whisnant on the politics of culture and how the mountaineer has been “modernized” in the twentieth century.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
My research has drawn from collections related to WHAS, WUKY, and other historical publications of the University of Kentucky, most of which are available at that institution’s special collections library. I attend the University of Kentucky as a graduate student in history, and I am entering the second year of the PhD program
Radio “Salutes” the East: Newspaper and University Interests in the Listening Stations of Eastern Kentucky
Appalachian Studies Conference 2017 Paper Proposal
Radio “Salutes” the East: Newspaper and University Interests in the Listening Stations of Eastern Kentucky This research paper examines the history of the Listening Center program put in place by the University of Kentucky Radio Studies Department, which operated from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. With the intent of offering educational and popular culture material to rural mountain residents in the state of Kentucky, the fledgling University of Kentucky Radio Studies program, led by professor Elmer Sulzer, initiated a program of establishing centers in Eastern Kentucky where residents could listen to the radio free of charge. My research shows that listening centers, while operating primarily on an informal basis, came with certain provisions, including records kept by an appointed center director (intended to be a community leader of some sort) of attendance and which programs were favored by attendees. A portion of each day’s listening program would also be devoted to lectures on various academic topics by University of Kentucky professors. The Listening Center program offers more than a mere nostalgic glance at the bygone golden age of radio. I place the university-led program at a critical intermediary point between the first major commercial station in Kentucky (WHAS, in Louisville) and the standard bearer for public, University radio in the Bluegrass State, WUKY in Lexington. By the mid-1930s, many Americans tuned to radio stations would be skeptical of the notion that meaningful educational content could be transmitted over the airwaves, as radio had already begun to show its fundamental ties to commercial advertising and content. Yet the Appalachian region seemed to offer a more fertile ground for this effect to radio devotees like Elmer Sulzer and UK faculty. My project examines the way radio seemed in its heyday to offer a new means of educating isolated mountain communities. True, radios would eventually become more affordable and available to eastern Kentuckians, and later give way to television broadcasts. However the history of these centers is no less instructive to students of education and communication in Appalachia, as well as those interested in the general history of the region. Reference for this project comes from a number of Appalachian history scholars, including Ron Eller’s work on the region’s history post-1945, as well as the work of David Whisnant on the politics of culture and how the mountaineer has been “modernized” in the twentieth century.
